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Friendship Elementary first-grader Nikita Beck concentrated on the words in her book, "If You Take a Mouse to School," as she read aloud on Tuesday. She carefully pronounced each word to classroom volunteer Janice Smith, who would occasionally help Nikita with a tough word here or there, but who mostly just gave the girl an encouraging audience. "There you go. You keep Read more...

After decades of struggling with her weight, Kathy Freeman, at nearly 300 pounds, finally made the decision to get weight-loss surgery at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., last year. Although she had a strong network of support from most of her friends and loved ones, the 50-year-old nurse ended up losing a friend along with the 142 pounds she has dropped since the surgery. Read more...

Media Contact: Emily Buenting, ThirdAge Inc. (617) 285-4052 emilyb@thirdage.com October 16, 2009 (New York, NY) Expressing gratitude for a loved one seen as a benefit amidst the challenges The Internet is playing an important role in the lives of Baby Boomers who care for sick or elderly loved ones according to an Read more...

I am a grandmother, though I did not become one in the conventional way. Then again, nothing in my life has turned out as planned, so how else would I enter my golden years but by being shot out of a cannon? About a year and a half ago, my son told me he'd met a woman at work, a pretty widow with five children. I immediately launched into my best arguments against the relationship. You Read more...

One curious outgrowth of the "graying of Facebook" is the real-time interaction among generations -- children, parents and grandparents. A common question among the younger set is, "Should I 'friend' my parents?" And for the older generation, it's "Should I 'friend' my kids?" Fifty-year-old Bruce Headrick and his wife, Lisa, have four children, spanning from Read more...

Church-goers with snouts, paws and fur? Yes, animals and their human friends looked to the rector at St. John's Episcopal Church in Decatur, Alabama, on Sunday afternoon. In a crowd of more than 100, nearly half were four-legged. "This is way out of my comfort zone," said the Rev. Richard Lawson, looking around a crowded parish hall. Rain forced the church's Blessing of the Read more...

NAPLES, Fla. -- AgingCare.com, a website dedicated to adult children caring for their elderly parents, has gathered the top ten issues that affect caregivers. These issues are the most popular topics on the AgingCare.com community forum (www.agingcare.com/Community), where caregivers connect and communicate with one another. 1. Getting paid for caregiving. Oftentimes, adult children have to Read more...

Are you carrying the guilt of a family secret? Is something in your past too embarrassing to reveal? If so, Mary E. DeMuth has a blog for you. The Web site she began, My Family Secrets, allows people to anonymously post their secrets and, she hopes, enjoy some freedom. "I was a bit hesitant to start at this," said the Texas-based author, "because I knew the kind of person I Read more...

Pets lower hypertension, spur exercise and improve psychological health, and if this appeared in pill form it would be called a wonder drug, a U.S. expert says. "Research in this field is providing new evidence on the positive impact pets have in our lives," Rebecca Johnson, an associate professor in the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, the College of Veterinary Read more...

Many parents say honesty is the best policy, but many parents lie to their children and many children notice, U.S. and Canadian researchers say. Gail Heyman, professor of psychology at the University of California in San Diego, Diem Luu, a former UCSD student and Kang Lee, professor at the University of Toronto, asked parents to report on lying to their children to promote appropriate Read more...

You're over 50. You've raised your children. You're retired. Now you've earned the right to travel, relax or just do what you want to do. These days, however, that "whatever you want to do" usually includes grandchildren. With these struggling economic times, it is becoming more common than not for both parents of young children to hold down full-time jobs in order to make ends Read more...

Are you a people pleaser? If you are, you could be putting your health at risk. According to Les Barbanell, author and psychologist, many people pleasers could be suffering from a pathological condition known as "caretaker personality disorder." In a book, Removing the Mask of Kindness, Barbanell describes how many "nice" people are actually feeling miserable, isolated, Read more...

Sebastian Rivera wasn't sure he wanted Dad to leave him at preschool. "I want my mama," he said. After all, it was just his second week of school and it all seemed so new. "I want my dad." No worries, though. On this special day, Nonni and Nonno were there to comfort him. "How about Nonni?" Angela Molini of Stockton asked 3-year-old Sebastian as she gave Read more...

Many newlyweds opt for candles, champagne toasts and rose-petal-covered beds, but Meghan Courtney and Rich Shaner had a different idea of romance. Their honeymoon was a little dirty. And sweaty. And exhausting. And not at all what you're thinking. Courtney and Shaner, who were married Aug. 1 in Pennsylvania, honeymooned in Boulder, Colo., to help build a house with the Flatirons Habitat Read more...

Stephanie Kahn wanted to bask in her engagement for a few hours before diving into the task of calling aunts, uncles and good friends with the big news. And even before she could call them, she had a surprise party to attend, one that her fiance had set up for their parents and her "closest group of girlfriends." That party was when Kahn lost control of her news. Some of the guests Read more...

Many parents worry about what the future holds for their lazy sons. I want to assure these parents that there is light at the end of this very stormy tunnel. I have come across many cases in which sons who were at war with their parents eventually called a ceasefire, grew close to the old folk -- and even became model citizens. All of this, I believe, has something to do with the Read more...

Just over seven years ago, my cousins in the midwest made use of the free "groups" feature on Yahoo to set up a discussion group for my mother's side of the family. A gang of us had gathered that May, when Mother's Day is celebrated, to honor first and foremost my grandmother, then a youthful 94, and all the mothers in subsequent generations. Really, it was just an excuse to hold Read more...

Rosemary Fitzpatrick (45), from Belfast, U.K., a practice manager with Knox & Clayton Architects in Lisburn, is Mom to nine-month-old Rachael. She says: "I suppose I haven't become a Mom until my 40s because I just hadn't met anyone that I wanted to start a family with. I met my husband Graham quite late and we lived together for a couple of years and got married when I was 40. Read more...

PHOENIX -- A longer life expectancy has led to an increased demand for family members to serve as caregivers for older adults. Caregiving can be a demanding, stressful and seemingly thankless job, but really it is an amazing gift to allow a loved one to "age in place" rather than in a clinical setting. SCAN Health Plan Arizona, a private nonprofit Medicare Advantage Plan, offers Read more...

In Andrea Hull's day, girls weren't really expected to go to college. But all that's changed. And Hull, now 62, is busy catching up. On Monday, the Hermosa Beach, Calif., woman began her first day of classes as a psychology major at California State University, Long Beach. Among her classmates? Hull's granddaughter, freshman Alexis Walters, 18, also a Hermosa Beach resident and a Read more...